I think that the last few postings on this thread have been so very sad..... I can see it from both sides. BOBW and Australia are excited about MS visiting and there's no reason why they shouldn't feel that way. And I am sure that no one either in Vancouver or London begrudge you this visit at all. I know the Aussies are a very welcoming people, even to 'Whingeing Poms' like myself!! And I know you will give MS a much more than adequate welcome, one he will not forget.
However... I can see the point of the Gatecon attendees too... why on earth has he NEVER attended a convention in the city he lives in? Many of his staunch defenders before have said things like "Oh... Michael Shanks is a very shy, private person, he wouldn't want to attend a con because it would put him on the spot. He might have to answer some questions about himself." They have also loyally stated that as far as they are concerned he doesn't owe his fans anything at all.
I don't question the view of him being a shy retiring, private person at all, although this makes me wonder why he has taken up a profession which catapults him very much into the public eye, where his private life WILL be scrutinised, whether I or anyone else dislikes the idea or not. But to use this excuse for not appearing at a convention close to home strikes me a rather banal....especially in the light of the fact that all of a sudden... just before Gatecon, an announcement is made that he will overcome this shyness to attend a convention in Australia! And coming straight after the announcement that he is more or less leaving the series.... that he will also now attend Wolf con in London in February?
So what are we saying here? That Michael is too shy and private to attend a con in his home country, but is not too shy and private to attend one in Australia or London? If you really ARE a shy retiring and private person, you will be that anywhere in the world. You can't just be shy and private when and where it suits you...
In my opinion, this is rather extraordinary behaviour. And I think it was rather a slap in the face for those very loyal fans in the American continent, many of whom would have absolutely adored to see him and who had resigned themselves to never being able to because.....
"Michael is a shy, intensely private man ....."
I can understand the American and Canadian fans being very hurt over this.... It's not that they resent you guys in Aussie land having Michael. It's just that I think that many of them would have given their right arm for him to come to Gatecon and they are bewildered that he hasn't. I feel for all of them.
If he is such a sensitive little flower..... a shy person, then he, of all people, should understand about hurting people's feelings... after all... when a few months back a series of rumours started and HIS feelings were hurt, he wasn't so shy then about telling people how HE felt.
I don't want to upset MS fans.... and I am not a fan of his btw... however, I think that Michael is still very young, still very new to the public eye and certainly still very new to fandom. He has yet to learn how to handle people..... or to establish the necessary communication with his fanbase. And I do NOT mean that as an insult to him. Many of his fervent fans will be quick to tell me that he DOES communicate..... if this IS the case, then why has all of this not been handled better?
Michael DOES owe all of you fans something in fact. He owes it ALL to you that his popularity has risen so quickly. Therefore he owes it to you that he makes an effort.... and attending events like Gatecon are part of that.... What he perhaps needs to realise is that he has insulted the people who attend Gatecon by his seemingly deliberate avoidance of this event and their company. And this has only been heightened by the fact that it now appears that he will only attend a convention if he can travel to another country....other than Canada. No matter what his original reasons for doing this, it will seem to all and sundry that what he actually wants is a 'paid holiday' and this IS in fact what many people are thinking and feeling.
Even if they are not saying it out loud.
What it is saying to people like myself, who don't really rate him as an actor particularly, is that this young man is coming across as arrogant rather than shy... and that he has got a little bit too big for his boots.
And before all of you Daniel fans yell at me.... I am only saying that this is how people like me PERCEIVE him.... and since I am never likely to get to know him as a person... a perception, based on his past and present behaviour is ALL I have to go on.
He certainly doesn't owe his fans an intrusive in depth look at his private life..... but he does owe the fact that he has progressed his acting career to you all...... and perhaps he needs to remember that, before he actually loses every little bit of goodwill he has gained from his, up to now, adoring public.
